America’s Lord High Chancellor

Rehnquist_1William Rehnquist is so cool.

It’s so sad that he’s like to have to retire soon because of his ill-health. I hope y’all will pray for him, that (whether on the Court or off) God will give him healing and the strength he needs to get through this time.

I wanted to just do a tribute post to him right now, while he’s still on the Court.

Like I said, he’s so cool.

First, he’s an originalist (the correct legal school of hermeutics and the only one that honors the democratic process).

Second, he was one of the two votes against The EVIL Decision in 1973 (the other was ex-football player-turned-Supreme Court Justice Byron "Whizzer" White).

Third, and most important, he’s a Gilbert & Sullivan fan!

In fact, he’s incorporated his fandom of G & S into Supreme Court tradition:

Rehnquist also created a unique robe for himself as Chief Justice in 1994. It has four golden bars on each sleeve. In the past, Chief Justices had not dressed differently than any of the Associate Justices. Rehnquist’s robe was modeled after a robe he had seen in a production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta Iolanthe, first staged in London in 1882. The costume which inspired Chief Justice Rehnquist, an acknowledged Gilbert and Sullivan fan, is worn by the Lord Chancellor, a character called upon to settle a dispute among a colony of fairies [SOURCE].

Yes!

Iolanthe (eye-oh-lan-theee) is one of the best G & S light operas. It has, in the judgment of some, the most beautiful score of any of the duo’s works. The libretto is witty. The premise is absurd. The climax is moving. And the ending is so over-the-top that it must have made a bunch of British Lords’ ears turn red. Oh yeah, and there are loads of jokes strewn along the path, and it has one of the two most amazing songs Gilbert ever wrote the lyrics for (this one being a strung-together collection of common sayings that he makes all fit together and rhyme).

The story focuses on the case of a young Arcadian shepherd named Strephon who has an unusual problem: Having a human father and a fairy mother (Iolanthe), he’s half mortal and half fairy. He’s a fairy down to the waist, but his legs are mortal. He’s also in love with a beautiful (mortal) maiden named Phyllis, who happens to be a Ward of Chancery (i.e., an orphan under the care of the court).

Enter England’s Lord High Chancellor (who, in U.K. government is, among other things, the head of their judiciary). In Iolanthe, the Lord High Chancellor himself has an unusual problem:

And every one who’d marry a Ward
Must come to me for my accord,
And in my court I sit all day,
Giving agreeable girls away,

With one for him–and one for he–
And one for you–and one for ye–
And one for thou–and one for thee–
But never, oh, never a one for me!

Which is exasperating for
A highly susceptible Chancellor!

Knowing the character of Iolanthe’s Lord High Chancellor from my own Gilbert & Sullivan fanboy-ism, I get such a kick out of the idea of Chief Justice Rehnquist–America’s Lord High Chancellor–would break with Supreme Court tradition to model his own robe after the character from Iolanthe.

What a cool guy!

I hope the next chief justice keeps up the tradition.

READ THE LIBRETTO.

GET A REALLY GOOD (AND CANADIAN!) PRODUCTION OF IOLANTHE.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

16 thoughts on “America’s Lord High Chancellor”

  2. Groovy! I knew there was something I liked about the guy! I am an erstwhile thespian, having for years been part of a theatre group that did G&S operettas. I myself played the eponymous Iolanthe.
    ‘thann

  5. Did Rehnquist go along with the Texas v. Lawrence decision? too bad if he did
    No. He signed on to Scalia’s dissent. The case was 6-3, not 7-2.

  6. I rather doubt that the next chief justice will wear the robe with gold stripes since the initial reaction in the legal community to it seemed to be one of hilarity and disdain than of approval.
    And Rehnquist is NOT the “Lord High Chancellor” of the United States. The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain is not only head of the judiciary, but also a cabinet minister and presides over the House of Lords (I have not kept up with the proposals to change the UK judiciary, but they all seem to envision reducing the Lord Chancellor’s current role). I don’t see how a Chief Justice of the United States who claims to be an originalist could entertain the pretense of being a “Lord Hight Chancellor.”

  7. There’s originalism and then there’s textualism. Textualism is just about the text, and therefore can be undermined by deconstruction. Originalism ought not only to take the text and the intent of the text’s drafters in mind; that is incomplete. One also needs to consider the intent of the ratifiers, as best as that might be discerned. Too much originalism stops with the drafting, and ignores the actual process of making law.

  8. I don’t mean to throw cold water on the party but I remember reading about his confirmation and the matter of whether he lied or not about something he’d written previously. I’m sorry that that’s all I’ve got but there was a book written about it too I believe. Perhaps you know of that which I speak?

  9. Jimmy,
    I didn’t know that you were a G&S fan. The most fun that I’ve ever had on stage was playing the Admiral in H.M.S. Pinafore.
    Are you familiar with Asimov’s annotated G&S?
    I wonder if any of the operettas could be set in Texas…?

  12. I wonder if any of the operettas could be set in Texas…?
    The Mikado.
    Would be perfect.
    The Mikado becomes the Governor of Texas and the penalty for flirting is hanging.
    Set in the town of Nacogdoches instead of Titipu.

  13. And Rehnquist is NOT the “Lord High Chancellor” of the United States. The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain is not only head of the judiciary, but also a cabinet minister and presides over the House of Lords (I have not kept up with the proposals to change the UK judiciary, but they all seem to envision reducing the Lord Chancellor’s current role). I don’t see how a Chief Justice of the United States who claims to be an originalist could entertain the pretense of being a “Lord Hight Chancellor.”
    Bill, you’re over-thinking this. They’re both heads of the judiciary. That’s the basis of the *joke.*

  14. I researched the religious background of the justices: Thomas, Scalia and Kennedy are Catholic. Souter and O’Connor are Episcopalian. Ginsberg is Jewish. Stevens is protestant. I couldn’t find anything on Breyer. Rehnquist is Lutheran. Rehnquist is ethnically Scandinavian.

  15. Jimmy-
    You’ve penned a nice tribute to the Chief. I am a bigger fan of the Renhquisitor from his early days on the Court (pre-Chief). Since becomming Chief, he has signed off on and written some really horrible decisions. But all in all, he’s been a fairly decent jusitce. He is no Scalia or Thomas though. 🙂

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